Picture Perfect Memories
by Serendipity Kat
Summary: Everyone is gone and all she has left are her memories. Futurefic/semi-AU. Warning: Character death Finchel if you squint
1. Chapter 1

Hey guys, Serendipity here. This is my first Glee fic. Just an idea that has been running around in my head for the last 6 years or so. I had originally thought to write it for RENT, but decided on Glee instead. Reviews are appreciated and are like crack to me. Let me know what you think.

-Serendipity

Rachel gazed sadly into space from the hospital bed as her mind spun with the clouded family of memories. That's all she had left. Her voice was raspy, her body was shutting down, and her face was so full of wrinkles. All around her, nurses and care staff bustled about and her roommate was crying like she always did this time of day. Alzheimer's. She had no clue what that meant, even though people keep saying that to her. If that was making her mind crazy, then so be it. She didn't care anymore. She just didn't care anymore. She had no one to care about anymore, they were all dead. She was dying, she knew that. She was so tired of everything, not only physically tired, but mentally drained. She just wanted to let go, but something wouldn't let her. She felt like she had to hang on for something. She was tired of people asking how she was feeling. She'd stopped eating, only drinking some fruit juice once in a while. All she had were her memories and Arianna. But even they seemed fuzzy; she had a harder time remember more recent times. Her memories of high school and her early 20's and 30's were as crystal clear as ever. In her mind, she was back at McKinley and it was time for Glee Club. Her dry lips smiled in the tiniest of smiles as she remembered her friends. Her friends who were all gone. The smile disappeared from her lips as quickly as it had come. She wasn't ready to re-live the pain of their deaths yet. It had been only in the last 10 years that everyone passed, but she could still feel the raw hurt around the edges of her mind. Cancer, old age, car crashes, disease... they had all conspired to rob her of her sanity. They were supposed to be together forever. She sighed and closed her eyes, wishing for the silence and nothingness to envelope her.


	2. Chapter 2

Hey guys Here's the 2nd chapter. Hope you like. Please read and review.

-Serendipity

Arianna was going through boxes of her mom's stuff, getting rid of things no longer needed and keeping others. Things had been hectic the last few months with her mom's disease getting worse and problems with her husband. Mom was so bad that they'd finally had to put her into a nursing home when they found her trying to start a fire in the stove. She had gone downhill from there. Rachel had moved to New York right after high school to pursue her career on the stag and had become a household name in the several short years before Arianna was born. They'd been living on New York up until Rachel had moved them back to Lima 7 years ago to be "home." She stood up, stretching her legs out from where they'd been cramped from crouching too long in the dusty attic. She picked up another box labeled "Glee" and opened the top. Inside there was a plethora of gold stars, trophies, programs, letters, and several large scrapbooks bursting at the seams with pictures and ribbons. She picked up the top book, moving aside everything else and opened it. It was red and white with "Glee Club" written in white letters. The pretty brunette was curious. Her mom had always been quiet on what happened in high school and her friends before becoming famous. As she opened the book, she saw many pictures of her mom as she looked back then with several people. Arianna recognized Uncle Kurt and Aunt Mercedes, but that was it. She knew those two were her mom's friends, but she hadn't realized that they were friends from so long ago. They never talked about the past with her. She didn't even know who her father was. Rachel raised her on her own, despite being a Broadway star and to Arianna it had never really mattered who her father had been. Uncle Kurt was always fun to be around and Aunt Mercedes could always be counted on to turn a bad mood into a good one. They were her family. She turned pages, seeing gold stars everywhere, little snippets of conversation. Her mom had always been good as writing things down. There were pictures of her mom by herself, with large groups and several with different boys. Each part of the book was divided into sections labeled with a tab. Arianna smiled, her mom had always been a neat organized freak. She had long stopped trying to tell her that she needed to let loose sometimes. Setting the book aside, she started pulling out some of the loose pictures. They looked like someone had had a wobbly hand when taking them. They seemed to be of various people on a plane, in the woods, at a beach, and several other places that Arianna couldn't define. She saw Uncle Kurt and Aunt Mercedes in several of the pictures so she had to assume that the rest of the people were people in Rachel's Glee club. She ignored the letters in the box, not deeming them not important enough to look at. Near the bottom of the box, she found a smaller box labeled "Performances." She opened it up and found a fair amount of DVD's and CD's with different names and dates written in sharpie on them. Arianna was curious. As far as she knew, her mom didn't have any records of herself from earlier years. Sure, she had her recent recordings, but nothing before 2015. Arianna was curious to see what her mother's voice sounded like when she was younger. She set the smaller box aside and put everything back into the box. Instead of putting the box in one of several piles, she had a thought. Maybe her mom would like to look at this stuff. Goodness knows her mom hadn't much else to occupy her time and Arianna thought it might shake her out of her perpetual gloom and depression. She smiled and carrying the box, slowly made her way down the ladder from the attic. Her mom sure was going to be in for a treat.


	3. Chapter 3

Hey guys, It's Serendipity. I was hoping for a few more reviews but I'm loving all the people who put me on their alert list. Here's chapter 3. Hope you guys like and please Read and Review, I need a few more reviews before I post the next chapter. Oh, I'm currently working on a Finchel romance fic so if that floats your boat, alert me to keep posted.

-Serendipity

When Arianna entered her mom's room, she looked like she was asleep and Arianna hesitated to wake her, but figured that Rachel could sleep anytime.

"Mom," Arianna softly called, not wanting to disturb her roommates. "Mom!"

Rachel heard her name being called from afar as she struggled to place the voice. Slowly, the fuzzy corners her eyes came into focus on the brunette in front of her. She smiled vaguely, her eyes still slightly unfocused and cloudy. "Who are you?" she croaked, not quite sure who this woman was and what she was doing in her room.

Arianna sighed and tried not to look disappointed. That's the problem with Alzheimer's; there were the memory lapses. At least that's what the doctor had said. People in the advanced stages of the crippling disease were more prone to forgetting recent events and even forgetting family members. "It's me, Arianna, mom. Your daughter."

Rachel's eyes slowly came into focus and a twinkle appeared. "Hi, dear." She finally said as the memory clicked into place. She plucked at the blankets surrounding her helplessly. "What are you here for?"

Arianna set the box on the edge of her mom's bed. "I was searching through some boxes that never got unpacked and I found this box of Glee stuff." she said softly, not sure how her mom would feel.

Rachel's eyes lit up. There was a trace of excitement when she replied, "Really? Did you look through it? Can I see it? Did you bring it?" The last couple of questions were rushed as she struggled to sit up.

Arianna set the box on the floor and pushed the button that would make the head of the bed rise till Rachel was almost sitting vertical. Rachel started wringing her hands nervously and Arianna suddenly was having doubts about the wisdom of bringing the box here. But then again... mom had always said that some of the best times in her life were with the Glee Club so maybe it wouldn't be so bad. She set the box on the bed as Rachel eagerly looked through it.


	4. Chapter 4

Hey guys, here's the 4th and final chapter. I hoped you enjoyed this. This is my first story in years so please let me know what you think. Stay tuned for a Finchel smut story because there can never be enough of that. lol

-Serendipity

Rachel picked up the smaller scrapbook and lightly ran her fingers over the cover. She remembered making this sophomore year when things had been alright. She and Finn had been dating at the time. This was after the whole Jesse fiasco. As she turned the pages, more pictures popped out at her. Her and Jesse in the park, New Directions at sectionals, her and Finn sharing a moment. Her fingers lingered on a picture taken in the local park. It was of her and Finn. He was behind her, his arms wrapped around her shoulders. They were looking at each other, smiles on their faces. A tear rolled down her face. Finn... taken so early. She'd kept in contact with her friends for years. Granted more sporadically as the years went by, but still in contact none the less.

It had been a terrible car crash 10 years ago. It was a stormy night and the roads were slick with rain. She'd heard about it on the evening news. When she first head it, she didn't connect that the Finn Hudson they were talking about had been _her_ Finn Hudson. Once she did, she cried herself to sleep leaving her daughter confused over her behavior.

Watching her mother carefully, Arianna looked a little concerned when she saw a tear leak from her mom's eyes. Maybe it had been a mistake to bring over the box. That is until she heard her mom say,

"I never told you who your father was, did I?" Rachel was still staring at the picture.

Arianna looked surprised. "I never asked." She sat on the edge of the bed looking at the picture. her mom looked so young, so carefree.

Rachel's raspy voice was soft. "He was an amazing guy." She pointed to the picture. "We were together in high school. He was the starting quarterback for the football team and I was the geek that everyone made fun of."

"Mom, you were never geeky. You've always been cool." Arianna protested.

The were interrupted by a nurse who came in with a little paper cup. "Ms. Berry, time for your medication."

Rachel took the white cup and grimaced. She didn't understand why she had to take these. She knew they were what was keeping her alive. If she didn't take them, she wouldn't have to endure the torment of living without them. But something inside her, something that was so much of who Rachel Berry was refused to let her break. She always had to do what was right. And right now, what was right was taking her meds.

"Thank you, Ms, Berry. What are you looking at?" the nurse asked kindly. Some of the nurses made a point to be nice to her sometimes.

"Looking at pictures from a time long gone. This was me when I was in highschool." She pointed at the girl in the picture.

"You were very pretty back then. I'll see you in 2 hours for your next dose." With that the kind nurse left them together, silence once again enveloping mother and daughter.

"His name was Finn Hudson. He was goofy, too tall for his age. You get your height from him. Goodness knows it wasn't from me." They both laughed knowing how tall Rachel really was. "He always had a child-like smirk on his face and I loved him dearly."

Arianna studied the picture. She could see herself in him. From her eyes to the shape of her chin, she could see her dad in her. "Why didn't you marry him?" she asked hesitantly.

Rachel looked sad. "He never asked me. All through high school we were inseparable, but once graduation came, I left for Broadway and he stayed in Lima. He didn't ask me to stay and I didn't ask him to come. He said something about not wanting to hold me back. Getting on the plane, seeing him standing there was the worst day of my life."

Arianna was confused. "But you had been a star on Broadway several years before you had me..." her voice trailed off.

Rachel eyes stared at some far off thing. "It was just after my final performance of a 2-year run of Anything Goes and he was waiting outside my dressing room. He had a dozen red roses and that goofy smile. I still don't know how he got backstage, the theater manager was emphatic about only performers being back there. He was in New York on business for a couple of days. Seeing him standing there for the first time in years almost made my heart stop."

"I thought you said he was a football player." Her daughter said, confused.

"He was, but he couldn't get a football scholarship so he went into business instead. We kept in contact over the years. I kept in contact with almost all of my friends from Glee Club. The only ones I saw on a regular basis were Kurt and Mercedes. We were roomies for years while you were young. Then Kurt started going to school for fashion and Mercedes got a recording contract with Columbia Records." She turned some more pages gazing sadly at the pictures of her friends. "I miss them so much. Every 10 years or so after graduation, we'd all get together and have a reunion. We'd talk and drink and sing and have fun like we used to."

"I don't remember you saying anything about that." Arianna said.

"You're right, I never said anything. I wanted to keep this for myself. Something that was only mine. I left you with Jesse, do you remember?" The next page was pictures of her and Jesse. "I knew him back then too. We never dated because we were in opposing Glee Clubs, but we forged a friendship of sorts. We were both insanely talented; we even played opposite each other in Wicked for about 8 months. But now he's gone too."

Arianna hugged her mom. She knew it was hard losing Uncle Kurt and Aunt Mercedes, but she had had no idea about any of the others. She wished her mom hadn't kept this to herself. "You shouldn't keep things bottled up, mom."

"I was being selfish and I'm trying to make up for it before I die."

Arianna looked alarmed, but made no move to contradict her mom. She knew it was just a matter of time. Her mom had given up and she knew it. She was just grateful that she was opening up like this. She reached into the box and pulled out the smaller box with the CD's and DVD's. "Mom, this was also in there. I thoughts maybe we could watch them together. I've never heard your voice when you were younger."

Rachel picked up a DVD and looked at her scrawling writing on the cover. 'Regionals '10.' She smiled as memories flooded back. She remembered Finn telling her he loved her, them singing "Faithfully," the look on Mr. Schuster's face in the audience. "This was when your father first told me he loved me. We were waiting to go on behind the curtains and he came up to me and whispered "I love you.""

Arianna took the DVD and put it in the player.

Rachel took her headphones and held it up to Arianna's ear. She watched her daughter's face as the camera showed a red curtain and she heard the music play. Suddenly, the camera turned and there was her and Finn, coming down the isle ways singing together in perfect harmony.

Arianna was shocked. Her mother had a gorgeous voice. So did her father for that matter. They sat in silence just watching the home video.

"What else is in there?" Rachel asked at the end of the set.

Arianna ejected the disc and rifle through the cases. "There's a CD called "Duets." Let's listen to this." She inserted the CD and hit play. "Defying Gravity" poured out of the speakers and boy's voice and her own.

"This is Kurt singing with me." she said, smiling. " We were having a 'Diva-off' to decide who'd get a solo for sectionals. I ended up winning because he flubbed a high note."

Right then the charge nurse came in and said softly, "Visiting hours are over, dear. Time to go."

Arianna kissed her mom and gave her a giant hug. "I'll come back tomorrow and we can watch some more videos of you."

"You know they're waiting for me." Rachel commented softly.

"Who's waiting for you?" Arianna who was halfway out the door turned around confused.

"My friends. They're all up there waiting for me to come sing with them. They need their co-director." Tears started forming in her eyes. "I miss them so much!"

Arianna kissed her mom again and said, "I'll see you tomorrow."

"I love you, Arianna."

"Love you too mom."

Once her daughter left, Rachel blinked back her tears and put her headphones back on, listening to the dulcet tomes of her and Kurt's duet of 'Defying Gravity.' "I'm flying high, defying gravity..." She softly hummed under her breath, wishing that her voice wasn't raspy. "Kiss me goodbye..." she trailed off, gazing at a picture of her and Kurt. For the first time in a long time, she felt peaceful, at ease with her memories. Part of it was talking to Arianna and part of it was looking through the scrapbooks and listening to the tapes. Clouds starting creeping in around her eyes and brain as a wave of song washed over her. She clutched a picture of her and Finn. She saw them standing there beside her bed smiling. "I'm coming guys." She breathed as she closed her eyes, finally at peace.


End file.
